Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
TIKIRARJUAQ/WHALE COVE
The indoor artificial turf the Kivalliq Inuit Association (KIA) funded for the community of Whale Cove this past year has proved itself to be a wonderful addition to the community.
KIA president David Ningeongan said not all government programs support the community initiatives in Whale Cove, with it being such a small community, but the KIA had extra money to fund the indoor surface. The KIA had successfully funded another community initiative for Naujaat in the past and Ningeongan said the Whale Cove project made good sense on a number of levels.
Ningeongan said that the KIA will be undertaking a Kivalliq-wide tour in August in order to determine how royalties will be invested and how the KIA can use investment returns to help develop and run programs in Kivalliq communities.
"This is not just for the communities in the region impacted by the mines, but all the communities, so we can enhance the lives of youths, elders and others in the communities to help improve the quality of life for everyone we can," he said.
"We're going to give every community the opportunity to give us ideas and then we'll have follow-up tours to each of them and, hopefully, at the end of the day, we'll have an investment policy of some sort so that ... we can develop programs to initiate in every community in the region."
Their latest initiative in Whale Cove kicked the ball right off the Astroturf.
"The tarp is a big hit in our community," said Whale Cove Mayor Stanley Adjuk. "It's been proven that when you give kids something they enjoy doing, it really helps them stay out of trouble, so that's also a big help to the community."
It's also a help to the parents as well, who Adjuk said "are happy too" now that the tarp is installed.
"They know where their kids are and that they're safe inside and not out hanging around and, maybe, getting into something else," said Adjuk.
"It brings a bit of peace of mind, so it's not just the kids who are happy about the tarp, it's the parents too."
Adjuk said the community is into its second season with the turf and it seems to be more popular than ever right now.
"As soon as the ice melts we just spread it out in the arena and when it's time to go back to hockey, we just roll it up and put it away," he said. "The only hard part of the process is taking it from the sea can to the rink and the guys here do an exceptional job in putting the tarp out."
Plus, it means fewer problems with bears.
"In the spring, summer and fall, we have bears attracted to this community all the time, so it's a big benefit to have the kids enjoying themselves indoors," said Adjuk. "That's what really makes it special for us."
Adjuk said it's not easy finding funds for a community initiative anywhere these days, even from the Government of Nunavut.
He said Whale doesn't use the GN's community initiative funding every year, so the KIA stepping up like it did really helped a lot.
Having the turf allowed the community to have two Olympians come to Whale recently to help put on a soccer clinic and interact with the youth.
"I know there were a lot of kids there when they arrived and went right to the arena. It's always something special for out kids to meet a real Olympic athlete," said Adjuk.
"They brought their medals with them and a lot of people haven't seen a real Olympic medal, so that was super cool for everyone. The KIA probably thought they did a little something to help a bit, but they really have no idea how much they've helped our community."
